Crown says man acquitted in Air India bombing didn't prove case for legal fees
VANCOUVER - A Crown lawyer says a man seeking $9.2 million in legal costs stemming from Air India case has failed to prove prosecutors acted maliciously in proceeding to trial.
Ripudaman Singh Malik has argued the Crown should pay his legal bills after he spent four years in custody before the trial, which ended in his acquittal in 2005.
Lawyer Len Doust says the Crown had overwhelming evidence against Malik but was unable to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He says a not-guilty verdict doesn't mean someone is innocent of a crime and that people are awarded costs only in extreme cases, such as when their charter rights are violated.
Doust noted Malik and his wife posted $11 million as their net worth at a bail hearing, showing he obviously had the money for his legal costs in the lengthy trial.
Malik and his co-accused Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted of mass murder and conspiracy charges related to the deaths of 331 people in the twin Air India bombings in June 1985.
